This fast urban life!

Little Green River seems a million miles away (though it's actually about 340 miles away). We left it in sunshine and comparative warmth (temperatures in the sixties F). Now we are shivering in temperatures in the mid forties, and encountered fog, sleet and temperatures close to freezing as we traversed the Rockies today. The I70 is a magnificent - scenically speaking - route, leading you through narrow gorges and high plateaux with the steep, snow capped mountains, many of them smart ski destinations on either side, and always the road hugs the edges of one or other of the various waterways of the Colorado river system: the Colorado itself, the White River (a major tributary), the Eagle river and the Fall river. Scenically speaking, yes, but it is a road afflicted by lumps and bumps, and nasty little ridges that catch your tyres. I am getting quite fond of my little Chrysler Cruiser, as it twinkles at you when you hit the unlock button, and tries to tune the radio to a station it thinks I would like (fat chance as I can't find any station that I can bear to listen to), and it is quite a game little car. But these lumps and bumps were too much for it, as the stream of hurrying monsters with enormous tyres and gas gobbling engines cruised by. We went at our own decorous speed across the Rockies, but the state of Interstate 70 got me thinking about the enormous expense of maintaining this vast country's network of roads, many of them exposed, like I70, to extremes of temperature and stormy weather conditions. What will happen if the economy can't pick up enough to support the roads? Already schools in Arizona are laying off qualified teachers, and sales taxes seem to hitting the roof to make up for all sorts of shortfalls. A country like this relies on its roads to keep the country connected; and the culture of the road - motels, fast food outlets, mobile homes and RVs for example - is so pervasive, and indeed so integral to the whole restless American identity, and has been, I suspect, since the European occupation of these lands.

Today as we passed through places like Grand Junction, ate our picnic lunch in a rest area at No Name, sitting peacefully beside the Colorado or White River (not sure), I was much preoccupied in trying to imagine how those Westward bound traders, settlers, fortune-seekers, and other restless minds responded to the strange landscapes they encountered. What did they make of White Water Canyon, or the Red Canyon near Bryce... or Bryce itself? Perhaps they were so focused on survival that they seldom lifted up their heads to survey the wonders around them. I met a couple from North Carolina yesterday who said: "Western towns sure are rather ramshackle." Even today people are focused on the pragmatic and survival through harsh winters and harsh summers.

It's pretty harsh in Denver. It is very cool, and we are having to adjust to this fast urban life! However we are comfortably settled in our hotel, and have managed to find our way to a nearby multiplex to see a movie. Tomorrow we will try to find the art galleries.